Midday Devotion

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (ESV)

A Song of Ascents. Of David.
¹ Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
² It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
³ It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. (ESV)

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

¹ “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven,
² a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’
³ Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you.
⁴ “Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you.
⁵ Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
⁶ “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.
⁷ Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
⁸ Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.
⁹ When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
¹⁰ And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.
¹¹ And at the end of forty days and forty nights the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
¹² Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’
¹³ “Furthermore, the LORD said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people.
¹⁴ Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
¹⁵ So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
¹⁶ And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.
¹⁷ So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.
¹⁸ Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger.
¹⁹ For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also.
²⁰ And the LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.
²¹ Then I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain.
²² “At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. (ESV)

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
²⁴ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
²⁷ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
²⁸ And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
²⁹ for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (ESV)

¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying,
² “Inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
³ Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah,
⁴ ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city.
⁵ I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath.
⁶ And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence.
⁷ Afterward, declares the LORD, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
⁸ “And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
⁹ He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war.
¹⁰ For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
¹¹ “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD,
¹² O house of David! Thus says the LORD: “‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.’”
¹³ “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O rock of the plain, declares the LORD; you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter our habitations?’
¹⁴ I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, declares the LORD; I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.”

¹ Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word,
² and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.
³ Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
⁴ For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people.
⁵ But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
⁶ For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: “‘You are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.
⁷ I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons, and they shall cut down your choicest cedars and cast them into the fire.
⁸ “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?”
⁹ And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
¹⁰ Weep not for him who is dead, nor grieve for him, but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land.
¹¹ For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more,
¹² but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
¹³ “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages,
¹⁴ who says, ‘I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,’ who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion.
¹⁵ Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
¹⁶ He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD.
¹⁷ But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.”
¹⁸ Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’ They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
¹⁹ With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried, dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
²⁰ “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed.
²¹ I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, that you have not obeyed my voice.
²² The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; then you will be ashamed and confounded because of all your evil.
²³ O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!”
²⁴ “As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off
²⁵ and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
²⁶ I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die.
²⁷ But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”
²⁸ Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know?
²⁹ O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
³⁰ Thus says the LORD: “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”

¹ “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD.
² Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.
³ Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
⁴ I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.
⁵ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’
⁷ “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’
⁸ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” (ESV)

¹⁷ But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,
¹⁸ because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
¹⁹ For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?

¹ Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone,
² and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith,
³ that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
⁴ For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.
⁵ For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
⁶ But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you—
⁷ for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
⁸ For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.
⁹ For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God,
¹⁰ as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,
¹² and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
¹³ so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (ESV)

Beth
⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
¹⁰ With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
¹¹ I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
¹² Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!
¹³ With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
¹⁴ In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
¹⁵ I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
¹⁶ I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. (ESV)